What She Wants Most

I've known Dania Ramirez for 5 minutes, tops, and already she has me on a plane to the Dominican Republic, where she was born. She kicks off the virtual tour with lunch at a tiny Santo Domingo restaurant called Adrian Tropical. Then to the beach: Cap Cana, she says, is "8 miles of virgin white sand and coconut trees growing out of the water."

Virgins and beaches? Sounds perfect so far. Then Ramirez takes it over the line. "The best beer in the world is in the Dominican Republic: Presidente. There's more alcohol in it. You can get it colder than regular beer without freezing it. It's perfection."

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WATCH A SLIDESHOW OF OUTTAKES FROM DANIA'S PHOTOSHOOT

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Cap Cana. Virgins. Presidente. I got it. I'm ready to book my flight.

Ramirez, 28, who grew up in New Jersey after her family moved to the United States, loves talking about her home country even though she doesn't have much time to visit. You see, her schedule is a bit packed.

She joined the cast of NBC's Heroes this season as the mysterious, powerful new character Maya. You probably know her better as Blanca, the single Latina mom who broke young Anthony Jr.'s heart in the final season of The Sopranos. And you probably saw her in tight black leather and tats in X-Men: The Last Stand as one of Magneto's right-hand gals. All these high-profile acting gigs tend to keep her from spending time in her beloved homeland.

We're meeting old-school-Hollywood style, at the Chateau Marmont, under the close supervision of John Belushi's ghost. I can see why he's paying attention. She's not slim. She's lithe. Her skin isn't brown. It's bronze. And luminous. Her voice resembles Demi Moore's, with a slight accent. Her laugh, which you hear often, is hearty. And her attitude is wide open. "I am not about the bullshit," she says. "I can't hide how I feel. People find that out about me fast. If I didn't like you, you'd get that side of me."

Then she gives me that hearty laugh, so I guess I'm all right.

"Honesty hurts people's feelings," she continues, warming to a favorite subject. "But it's the only way to be. I'd rather you be honest with me always, even if you make me angry with your honesty. I can still respect that you've been honest." (Got that, men? No more lies about the fat pants, when she asks.)

Ramirez's single days are behind her. She found an honest man in director Jessy Terrero, who recently proposed to her in a helicopter over the Dominican Republic. But in terms of what Terrero did to win her heart, Ramirez is, of course, honest. He didn't try to be a superhero—and this woman knows from superheroes. He didn't try to impress her with feats of strength, physical or attitudinal. Instead, he played it straight.

"He treated me as an equal," she says, "which I think any woman—well, any intelligent woman—wants."

Ramirez has a few more honest suggestions on how to catch a lady's eye and her heart, and, so as not to make it all about body parts, her spirit.

Show a little emotion. Ramirez wishes men would fight off their masculine stoicism every once in a while and show some heat. "Men don't realize that being so rational all the time only makes them feel cold. It creates a bigger problem: Now you have an emotional woman!" She laughs again, and this laugh is evil. "There's no rational way to deal with that."

Once in a while, show a lot of emotion.

One time a guy totally broke down and bawled in front of Ramirez. She remembers it fondly. "Women deal with those emotions every day," she says. "It's normal. It's heartfelt." And, of course, the Dania capper: "It's honest."

Notice and appreciate.

"Men forget about small gestures," she says. "I don't want to tell you to thank me. That pisses me off. But if you take the time and look at those little things, you would correct bigger problems. So notice. And appreciate."

Go for realism.

"There's this ideal woman that men think up in their heads," Ramirez says. "It's the same for women—they think up Prince Charming. I want a relationship that's real. My fiancé always makes me feel like I can be myself, no matter how great or messed up that is. Good, bad, in between. It's all beautiful."

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